What is your good news?

My good news includes the replacement of the Sabine electrical box, which was so eccentric that it was going to burst into flame at any moment. I will not die in a sparking inferno of electrical death … today, at least. Included is a surge protector that can take 150K joules. I am still getting my mind around that.

Beyond this, I must also thank some of you readers for this that have been sent me through my amazon Wish List. Among you benefactors are

TS for volumes of the English translation of the sermons of St. Augustine (ss. 230-272, ss. 151-183). TC send another volume (ss 2–50) SC sent The Old Mass and the New: Explaining the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of Pope Benedict XVI. I have a few more which I will get to soon.

Please know that these are all deeply appreciated, as are your donations through the button on the sidebar and on some posts. It is my duty and pleasure to pray for benefactors.

On Friday 22 October, I will say Holy Mass for the intention of benefactors, taking a list with me of those who have been so good as to send support in so many ways.

37 Responses to What is your good news?

Everything seems to have finally pulled together for the Catholic Student Society of the Holy Name at the Ohio State University. We are tied to Holy Name Church, the parish which includes all of the University District. But almost all of the 12,000 catholics at the university have never heard of it. We are trying to promote our special lecture on the Theology of the Body, and both chalking and fliers have resulted in definite hits on our website. The Newman Center also finally agreed to publicize us in their email and bulletin. Then I happened across a crowd gathered listening to an evangelical preacher, and because of the topic, I had opportunity to announce our lecture, resulting in more hits on the website. Then, finally, today I got approval for advertisements for the parish in the university buses, which will begin next week.

My younger brother and his wife are coming to visit this weekend with their one-year-old daughter, who is also my God-daughter. They moved far from our childhood home, so it is a real treat to have them visit and to see them all, especially my little niece and Goddaughter.

Our chapter (Bl. Margaret of Castello, Boise, Idaho) just received two postulants, admitted 4 candidates to temporary profession and 2 (including me) to life profession. Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P., the promotor for the laity in the Western Province and chaplain at Catholic Answers, gave a retreat and presided at professions.

I will be finding out quite soon if I got into Loyola’s MA in Theology program. It’ll definitely be a step up from the crap I’m dealing with at Catholic Theological Union right now.

I’m not sure if this is “good news,” per se, but I gave my priest a bag of Mystic Monk coffee and a two-handled mug yesterday. He was very appreciative of it – mainly because he drinks coffee like it’s going out of style – and found the whole thing very interesting. Particularly the reason for the two handles on the mug and the fact that the proceeds are going to building the monastery.

I was shown a copy of a new catechism for primary school children called-
“My First Holy Communion”–a story book for parents and grandparents to help them prepare their child for Holy Communion.
by Deirdre Mary Ascough.
Clonmacnois Press.
There was only time for a quick glance through it but it gladdened my heart.
Here in Ireland Catholic education simply has not worked and one of the many reasons seems to be the catechetical programme for primary school children.
This book talks about and explains in simple language truths of our faith like transubstantiation (yes it actually uses the word-I nearly stood up and cheered.)
It looks like a solid, orthodox preparation for any child and indeed their parents could probably learn a lot from it too.
It is also nicely and sturdily bound and is just an attractive looking book.
Hopefully it is the beginning of the renewal of the faith in this country.
By the way I don’t have any connection with the author or shares in the company!

I’ll pray for you, revs 96! Thanks for the good news, all. My good news is that I’m leaving in two days to join the Adorers of the Royal Heart in Gricigliano, Italy, and I’ll be officially received as a postulant on October 31, the Feast of the Christ the King. :)

Our 5th anniversary is Friday, my husband’s birthday is Thursday. We are celebrating with a short weekend in Chicago, and are getting there by taking our 3-year-old on his first train ride (little brother is staying with Grandma). We’ll be going to the Shedd Aquarium, which I’m possibly more excited about than my son.

On Sunday last our priest blessed the latest batch of prayer shawls and blankets knit or crocheted by a small group that I started last year. Fr. Hayden did a very nice blessing – for the knitters/crocheters, for the yarn and needles or hooks, for the recipients and their families. So, we have about 20 or so ready to give to people who are ill, home bound, old, bereaved, etc., – shawls for ladies, lap blankets for men, and blankets for kids and babies.

On Monday my husband took a shawl to a friend of his for the friend’s wife who has some serious medical issues. The friend took the shawl to his wife that afternoon (she is in hospital). Yesterday morning his wife’s vital signs were all improved! Many prayers go into the making of these shawls and blankets, and – as I said above – they are also blessed by a priest at Mass.

This is not the first story of the fruits of prayer shawls that have come to us since we started this apostolate. I pray that it will not be the last.

2 retreats for our youth in the next 2 weeks! The first this weekend is for the servers(all boys) and we have the Bishop there having breakfast with them and giving a talk. He will then give a small talk to the girls of the parish. The following weekend the Sisters of the Holy Cross (well, 2 of them) are coming to give the girls a silent retreat that looks Stupendous! It has been a lot of work organizing, but so worth it for our youth!

The Carmelite Monks of Wyoming (yes, the makers of the coffee!) have two new priests as of last Friday, Fr. Michael Mary and Father Joseph Marie. These are very good and holy men. (Oh and another young man entered the order this week.) The ordination was so beautiful in so many ways: the choir sang so beautifully, the ordination mass and first masses were magnificent, the sermons were inspiring, the weather was gorgeous and it was all so joyful. This particular order brings me so much hope for the future. Now I know what “sublime” means. You can read about it here: http://blog.wyomingcatholiccollege.com/post/2010/10/20/A-Foretaste-of-the-Heavenly-Jerusalem.aspx

Over a year ago I discovered John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego, which offers a master’s degree in Biblical Theology on a distance learning basis, something I had been seeking for years. Now that I am in it I am delighted to find this is avery substantial program compared to similar offerings around the country, with 21 courses and two languages (Latin or Hebrew, and Greek) required for the MA.

Besides that, the sterile JEPD nonsense is not driving the program, for which may God be praised!

Now that I have got the ten course philosophy/theology pre-requisites practically out of the way I am on the very cusp of entering graduate school and grappling with biblical hermeneutics etc. Also, I have discovered a tutor in Biblical Hebrew in the Portland area who is very well qualified- a Messianic Jew- and with very reasonable rates. Bevakasha, Domine!

Btw, to take one example, the Biblical Hermeneutics course takes a very close look at Providentissimus Deus by Pope Leo XIII something which I understand is atypical of such courses even in our seminaries, including the Roman theologates (if this is wrong, please correct me.) In short, I am really thrilled with this situation and am trusting Our Lady and St. Therese for triumph over my studies.

Last week, after many years of despair over my weight and bad eating habits, I finally found a weight management plan I truly love — Spark People, a wonderful online community with lots of great tools for tracking exercise, foods eaten, and developing healthy habits.

I started using their tools a week ago Tuesday and so far, I have kept to my calorie/nutrient goals for 7 of the last 8 days! Plus I don’t even have the desire to binge eat that I once had. It’s not only changed my eating habits but it’s even made me happier, more patient, and more inclined to pray every day as well!

If I stick with this plan I could be 100 pounds lighter by this time next year! Deo Gratias!

I am looking for the silver lining on this cloud, but our TLM community was recently informed that the FSSP was leaving the diocese of …. The community is devasted. We did, on the other hand, have a chaplin appointed “pro tempore.” I believe the diocese is looking for a more permanent solution. The bright side of the story is our temporary chaplin is a very good speaker/preacher.

I **LOVE** his Japanese “Our Lady of Perpetual Help” print. I hope to be able to buy one for our newly renovated old dairy building ~ it has been turned into an art studio for me and the kids. We’ve named it, “St. Luke” and I want to decorate not only with bright colors but also religious art!

Our daughter was clothed in the Carmelite habit and entered the novitiate! She is now Sr. Michael Joseph, O.C.D. She was absolutely radiant with joy when we visited her.
My husband was laid off from his job on the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. We continue to pray a novena prayer to her for a new job. He has had several phone interviews, including one this afternoon.

rev96 and Rachel-wonderful news about your vocations!
ladykathryn-ditto about your Carmelite daughter! Where is her community, if I may ask?
My good news-tonight I plan on going to a presentation by Father Peter Stravinskas on the upcoming new translation of the Mass. I’ve read some of his question-and-answer books (I think they’re called ‘Question Box’?), and I hope that I can have the chance to meet him, even if only for a second or two!
I tried to get the organist of the TLM chapel to come with me-she said ‘no’. Sigh….I wish she wasn’t so dismissive of it.

Father Z-I went to Father Stravinska’s talk last night on the new Mass translation. Very cool! And I found out that he knows you! That was even cooler! My eyes just about ‘bugged out’ of my head when I heard that! In fact, many of the things he said about ‘sacral language’ and such made me think I was listening to an ‘echo’ of you! He has also said Mass at Holy Innocents’ Church in NYC, just as you did recently.
I sure wish you could come to Upstate New York sometime….well, maybe not at this ‘exact’ time of year….our weather can get pretty unpredictable! There’s a little ‘trace’ of snow falling as I write this!

Oops-I meant ‘Stravinskas’. Should slow down and look at my spelling before hitting the ‘Post’ button!
I guess I have an excuse: my power was turned off yesterday, and I came home to a cold and dark house. Have a tendency to get ‘cranky’ if I have insomnia overnight.

I had a baby girl, 7th child, on the 18th the feast of St. Luke. It was a C-section and the doctor had trouble with the spinal because of scoliosis. After many excruciating tries to inject the medicine in my back, I quietly said to St. Luke, please, St. Luke, I am counting on your help here and the spinal worked, the doctor found the right spot and I didn’t have to be put under. Our little girl was born into the world just as Mass was being said for our intentions in that hour at 12 :55 p.m.
Her name is Francesca Marie-Lucia and is such a joy. Praise be to God.

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An outstanding opportunity to get into Latin and New Testament Greek

For Easter: another ethereal music CD from the chart-topping nuns…

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A bit more food for thought…

“Only one sin is nowadays severely punished: the attentive observance of the traditions of our Fathers. For that reason the good ones are thrown out of their places and brought to the desert.”

- Basil of Caesarea - ep. 243

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Food For Thought

“The legalization of the termination of pregnancy is none other than the authorization given to an adult, with the approval of an established law, to take the lives of children yet unborn and thus incapable of defending themselves. It is difficult to imagine a more unjust situation, and it is very difficult to speak of obsession in a matter such as this, where we are dealing with a fundamental imperative of every good conscience — the defense of the right to life of an innocent and defenseless human being.”

- St. John Paul II

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Should the US Bishops have us return to obligatory "meatless Fridays" during the whole year and not just during Lent?

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"One of the most dangerous errors is that civilization is automatically bound to increase and spread. The lesson of history is the opposite; civilization is a rarity, attained with difficulty and easily lost. The normal state of humanity is barbarism, just as the normal surface of the planet is salt water. Land looms large in our imagination and civilization in history books, only because sea and savagery are to us less interesting."

- C.S. Lewis

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“I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history.”

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1. Those who fear and distrust the people, and wish to draw all powers from them into the hands of the higher classes.
2. Those who identify themselves with the people, have confidence in them, cherish and consider them as the most honest and safe, although not the most wise depositary of the public interests."

Additional Food For Thought

“And how we burned in the camps later, thinking: What would things have been like if every Security operative, when he went out at night to make an arrest, had been uncertain whether he would return alive and had to say good-bye to his family? Or if, during periods of mass arrests, as for example in Leningrad, when they arrested a quarter of the entire city, people had not simply sat there in their lairs, paling with terror at every bang of the downstairs door and at every step on the staircase, but had understood they had nothing left to lose and had boldly set up in the downstairs hall an ambush of half a dozen people with axes, hammers, pokers, or whatever else was at hand?... The Organs would very quickly have suffered a shortage of officers and transport and, notwithstanding all of Stalin's thirst, the cursed machine would have ground to a halt! If...if...We didn't love freedom enough. And even more – we had no awareness of the real situation.... We purely and simply deserved everything that happened afterward.”

- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

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Food For Thought

“Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites. . . . Society cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without. It is ordained in the eternal constitution of things, that men of intemperate minds cannot be free. Their passions forge their fetters.”

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